


catalogue of modern mistakes

by liesmith



Category: Cow Chop, The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, crossover in a way, junior paranormal assholes, wish me luck trynna write a chaptered fic out here with some damn plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-02-04 16:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12774828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liesmith/pseuds/liesmith
Summary: people are going missing and dying and you know what, maybe they should figure out whats going on. they have a camera and like ghosts and piss off demons, so they're qualifiedorlove is over





	1. only if for a night

**Author's Note:**

> this is if you took buzzfeed unsolved, but more unprofessional, and mixed it with elements of persona 4. welcome to my new fic

“It’s your boy, Aleks here, with James, ready to explore this haunted ass bridge, you know, the usual.”

From behind the camera, Brett rolls his eyes. Besides Aleks, James is very much dragging a hand over his face, as if this isn’t the hundredth time they’ve done this, as if this isn’t the hundredth time he’s heard this fucking spiel from the asshole with frosted tips. Still, he lowers his hand, looks exasperated at the camera, and just nods.

“Uh, yeah. The… Goatman’s bridge. I guess Satan hangs out at bridges like cool kids do, so we’re just gonna fuck with him. ‘Cause-”

“Satan’s a pussy!” Aleks slung an arm around James’ neck, grinning so wide, and James shoves his face away.

He could have chosen a better partner for this, really.

 

* * *

 

 Satan’s pussy bridge yields nothing but the three of them being chucklefucks. It’s unprofessional to the nth degree when you can hear Brett giggling from behind the camera, but maybe that’s their charm. It’s what keeps the viewers rolling in, or so James hopes so. They’re getting more and more popular, despite assholes on the internet making fun of them, but that wasn’t the point. They had fun. That was the point.

And he had to fucking prove something out there existed, and in the process, scare the piss out of Aleks. That was the ultimate goal, really. Fuck ghosts and demons; this was just to ruin Aleksandr on film so he had it forever.

Still. It was fun, exploring, climbing over shitty ruins of local ‘haunted’ spots around Colorado, and when Brett could stand to drive them all, they went to places suggested by viewers, hence why James sat now, on the shared bed with Aleks (because Brett won’t let them all get separate rooms at the motel, but that’s ok, because they’re all cheap scumbags) and going over the footage with him. They’re not even talking, but sometimes Aleks points out a couple of seconds and James can basically hear the gears work in his head, know that Aleks wants something cut, or editted heavily for laughs, or what have you.

“Dude, I can’t believe the weegee board didn’t give us shit.”

“I don’t think you even closed it correctly,” James murmurs, remembering the plastic board laid out in front of him just hours before, “we’re going to get haunted forever now.”

“Isn’t that the point of the show?”

“You’re… not wrong.”

“You’re both idiots,” Brett murmurs, back to them as he’s attempting to sleep. It’s close to four am, and of course Aleks and James are too amped up to do anything but start pouring over the footage and editing things, “turn off the fucking light.”

James looks at the sad table lamp in the sad motel room they’re sadly stationed in for the night. “No.”

“Fuck you,” But there’s no emotion in Brett’s mumble, just monotone. Bored. James almost feels bad enough to switch the light off now. Almost. Instead, he just tosses one of their flat pillows to Brett’s bed, who grunts as it hits his ass but takes it, using it to cover his face a little more.

“Don’t get bed bugs, man,” Aleks complains, itching at his arm momentarily, “ooh. Shit makes me itchy thinking about how gross this place is.”

“The walls are thin. Don’t complain. You didn’t pay.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aleks waves his hand towards the muffled voice of Brett off to his side, leaning over James a little and pointing at a couple of tiny, red dots on the screen, where James has paused the footage, “dude. What’s that?”

“The highway,” James sighs, looking only mildly disappointed. The fact it was so close to a busy road kind of sucked; the lights could have been something. The last place they went didn’t yield anything either, a beat to shit dilapidated house that some family got murdered in, and that was even more disappointing. The Ouija board might have helped there.

Aleks just groans and flops down, dramatic with all his long chicken limbs, and pouts up at James. “This sucks. When are we gonna get some good shit? You know, going to that hotel, before we got kicked out, that got us some cool shit. When’s that gonna come back?”

“Ghosts… dude, they don’t just do shit because you want them too.”

“You sure?”

“Go to sleep,” Brett breaks up the conversation again, voice still muffled under his additional pillow, “turn the _fucking_ laptop off.”

James mumbles, and both him and Aleks mimic Brett, mouthing his pissy words. But… Brett’s right, anyways. It’s fucking late, and they have to be out of this scuzzy place by ten am. James just saves the footage, multiple times, and then shuts his laptop down. Places it carefully on the bedside table, the one that doesn’t have the sad table lamp on it, and elbows Aleks.

The blond sighs, dramatic, but turns the table lamp off, and rolls a bit away from James, as much as the twin sized hotel bed allows. James just stretches out, burrows into his hoodie in the cold night weather and the thin blanket, and finds sleep takes him easier than he expects.

 

* * *

 

 Brett gets them food at a diner down the street, after waking them up and James and Aleks, embarrassingly enough, untangle limbs. They always end up cuddling when they go on trips like this, and they both just mumble and pretend it didn’t happen, and pretend it won’t happen again.

Bellies full and James clutching a third cup of coffee, downing it as Brett yells at him to get his ass in gear, the little Kia square already packed and ready to go. He just looks miserable as he tosses away at least a fourth of the cup left, climbing into the back seat, letting Aleks take the passenger for the ride back to Colorado.

At least he can stretch out back here, lean back against the door, and crack the lid back open, and start working on more editing.

James gets to turning it on, watching it boot up boredly, opening the software, and then the last saved file, and his phone goes off in his pocket. Huh. The only two people who’d really bother him are here, in the car with him, bitching about what to listen to on the radio.

So when he pulls it out and squints at the text message, sent from an unknown number, he feels… some panic deep in his stomach at the words he reads.

 

**Visit the Midnight Channel tonight! Your love awaits, James!**

 

What the fuck? His eyes flick towards Aleks and Brett, but they’re still fighting over radio stations. Couldn’t be them.

When he looks back, the text message is gone.

James swallows hard, and blames it on lack of sleep, and a caffeine headache starting to pound at the base of his skull. He was… just seeing shit.

That’s all that was.


	2. like a storm in the sky

There’s fuck all wi-fi, so it’s not like James can really explore whatever the hell a midnight channel is, and he’s not gonna waste valuable phone data on it. There’s no need to panic. He’s sleep deprived and jittery on coffee, and that’s the story he’s going to stick too. Headphones go in, mostly to drown out the bickering of Brett and Aleks, who are somehow _still_ going at it, and he dives into editing.

Of course, he doesn’t remember any of it. Or well, most of it, at least. James remembers cutting down most of their bullshitting and then the next thing he knows, Aleks is shaking his shoulder, saying something. It takes his sleepy brain to catch up, but it dawns on James that they’re at his place. Oh, right. Colorado. This shit show again. He just stretches, wincing at the ache in his bones of being crammed into a tiny car’s tiny back seat in an awkward way of sitting/sleeping, closing the laptop’s lid and jamming it under his shoulder as he climbed out of Brett’s car, rolling his shoulders.

“Shit,” James swears softly, looking up at his apartment building, squinting at it, “that wasn’t a long drive.”

“You were asleep for all of it,” Aleks points out from the trunk of Brett’s car, poking his head out, “come help me grab our shit.”

James pouts but does so, setting the laptop down into the back seat again and rounding it. Brett’s a bit away from them, looking freezing in his coat but on the phone, shoulders scrunched up and hands jammed into his jeans pockets. Poor thing. James almost feels bad. Almost. Instead, he helps hoist up a couple of bags of equipment as Aleks grabs the rest, and they both waddle towards his apartment. God bless it being on the second floor.

Another trip grabs the rest of their little shit and while Aleks takes the laptop and their bags inside, James lags behind until Brett’s off the phone. The man just looks annoyed and James can’t tell if it’s Brett’s natural state right now or he’s just cold. Still, he whistles soft, catches Brett’s attention from looking at his phone, and waves him over.

“Hey, dude, so… how much this time?”

“Has my rate ever changed?” Brett deadpans, staring at James, “I want my three hundred.”

Yikes. James acts surprised, as if he hasn’t paid Brett three hundred every time they do this, like Brett isn’t giving them the biggest fucking discount of their lives. “In a week. Promise.”

“Yeah, you always do,” Brett rolls his eyes but climbs into his car with no more fuss, “call when you need me.”

“Thanks, Brett.”

Brett just gives a half-assed salute and he’s starting the car up, and James just waves before leaving to the nice and warm apartment building, climbing up to his apartment floor.

He’s not that worried when his door’s halfway open, knowing Aleks is in there with Ein, and shuts the door behind him with his foot, rubbing his hands together. Good thing his building has decent heat. The blond and corgi are nowhere to be found, so James takes the opportunity to relax, just for a moment.

And then his phone buzzes.

It doesn’t even dawn on him that that’s fucking unusual, so James just pulls it out, and stares at the text sent.

**Don’t forget to visit the Midnight Channel tonight! Love awaits!**

James squints, brows furrowed, and he glances upwards. Aleks is coming out of the bathroom, Ein hot on his heels, and when the corgi sees him… it’s all over. He instantly forgets about the text, tossing his phone onto the couch to sweep up his puppy, smooching over her small face.

“She pissed a couple of times in the kitchen,” Aleks mumbles, flopping down on the couch, feet up on the rickety coffee table, “I cleaned it up.”

“Oh, great. Thanks, Ein,” James mumbled, holding the dog above his head and squinting at her. She barks in return, stubby legs going a mile a minute, and he just sets her down on the floor to let her run. Good thing she’s so fucking cute or else he’d be more mad, but… she is. She’s so fucking cute. He just settles into place besides Aleks, arm stretched out over the back of the couch.

“Can I crash here tonight?”

“Surprised you’re asking,” James murmurs, raising an eyebrow at Aleks. Normally, the blond just makes himself at home, quite literally so. He doesn’t live that far from here, but sometimes it’s easier to just stay at James’ after filming, and James doesn’t mind. They’re friends. They have fun. It’s not the worst scenario James has been in, “you know I don’t care, dude. But take-outs on you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aleks murmurs, grabbing the remote and turning the television on, flipping through a couple of channels before James glances at his phone, sitting just smidgen away from him. Was the text still there?

“... Uh, have you heard of the midnight channel?” James asks, curling his fingers around his phone and turning the screen back on. Nothing. The text was gone, just like before. What the hell? He couldn’t blame that one on sleep deprivation, or the jitters of coffee. He was just… himself and disappearing texts were fucking mildly worrying. Shouldn’t have played with that Ouija board.

“The what?”

“I dunno, I saw a sticker near the bridge,” James lies, shrugging, “I didn’t know if it was a band, or something else. It sounds cool. Midnight channel.”

“Dunno,” Aleks glances at him, brow raised, “never heard of it. Maybe it’s some shitty indie Texas band, dedicated to pussy Satan bridge.”

James just laughs, kicking Aleks’ thigh. “You’re such an asshole sometimes.”

Aleks grins, giving James a small thumbs up. “Yeah, sure. What do you want to eat?” And he’s pulling out his own phone, pulling up an app, and James shrugs.

“Surprise me, dude. I’m gonna go shower.”

“Aye aye,” Aleks monotones, brows furrowed as he’s looking through the restaurants delivering. James watches him for a moment before finally climbing off the couch, dragging his feet to his room and then his bathroom, clothes tucked under his arm. Normally he’d just walk out naked, but he does have company, even if they’ve both probably seen their dicks a hundred times.

He sets his phone down on the sink’s counter, closing his door with his foot, and frowns when it buzzes. Was that Aleks, asking a damn question about food?

No.

That’d be too easy.

**The channel opens at 0:00 A.M.! The static of your television will show you!**

And maybe now, his blood might be a little chilly. James just turns his phone screen down as he turns the shower on hot, pulling his beanie off and running a hand through his hair. Someone had to be fucking with him, but the unease in his stomach made him think otherwise. All he had to do was shower, go out, turn his laptop on, and google whatever the fuck this weird phone virus was.

But then again.

That’d be too easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll probably use chapter summaries to let you know if there's anything triggering or w/e going on in the fic, so don't expect chapter summaries... because i suck
> 
> thanks for the support n love


	3. and shadows are what's left

Despite his unease, James finds it easy to settle into the routine. Showered and clean, dressed in his ugly shorts Aleks hates, and settles into couch potato mode next to the blond. They only move when the door rings for take out, and even then, they both veg out. Ein finds her way up to the couch and wiggles in between them, paws pressed into Aleks’ thighs, and the blond just idly pets her side, munching on a breadstick.

“I gotta get me one of these.”

James rolls his head to the side, brows furrowed. “A... breadstick?”

“A dog, dude. I love Ein.”

Oh. Makes sense. “You spend too much time at my place. Your dog would just become mine.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. You ever hold a baby, and think, ‘wow, wish this was mine’, then it cries, and you just give it back to its mom, and you’re like ‘thank god this isn’t mine’?”

“No.”

“Oh,” Aleks turns his head to look at James, pushing his sunglasses up into the dyed mess he calls hair, “oh.”

James just stares before laughing, reaching over and shoving Aleks’ face. “You’re so fucking stupid.”

Aleks just laughs and pushes at James’ face in return, not even caring that Ein has joined in, only for the bit of breadstick left in his hand, and running away with it. Neither of them notice, or if the did, they don’t care; their playful shoving has dissolved into minor wrestling, mostly taking the piss out of one another. A shove, a slap… after a moment or two, James just manages to grab Aleks’ wrist and twist it, a little, and the blond whines.

“Ow!”

“Barely,” James drops his wrist though, scooting closer to Aleks, leaning against him. Aleks just does the same, slumping down as he gets comfortable. The hotel cuddling is one thing, really, but here, alone, together… no Brett, no dusty rooms, no dirty ass twin mattresses… here, on his couch, is enough to make James’ head spin.

And of course, he’s reminded of the text. Midnight Channel… his true love. His eyes flick briefly to Aleks, whose zoned out on the television, murmuring under his breath every time a contestant on the baking show their watching fucks up, and thinks. And thinks. And thinks. There’s no one else in James’ life, not like Aleks, and… he wonders if he should be concerned about that. Worried, perhaps.

He’d probably care a lot more if Aleks wasn’t so warm against him. An arm goes across the back of the couch and James, almost effortlessly, slots into the space made for him now. The arm slings somewhat around his neck, somewhat around his shoulder, and just hangs there, fingertips skimming light across his collarbone.

True love. Midnight Channel. Whatever.

Just like his mom used to say. Out of sight, out of mind. James lids his eyes, arms crossing over his stomach, and he let’s himself go.

 

* * *

 

Somewhere from then to morning, he’s found himself in his bed. So has Aleks, though. James doesn’t mind; he never has with the hotel cuddling, either, and the nights are so fucking cold here in Colorado. He finds his phone first, vibrating with an alarm on his night stand, flicks the alarm off and squints at the screen.

There are two texts.

One, from Brett.

_Hey dummy. Found something for you. Let me know if you’re interested._

A link follows to a news article.

Two, from… that number.

**So sorry to see you’ve missed your reservation, James! Please visit us next Tuesday! Same time, same place!**

That one disappears. Brett’s does not. Aleks hasn’t stirred against him, so James scoots a little closer to the warm body, despite how instantly awake he is. He clicks the link supplied by Brett, brows furrowed as he reads.

An unexplained murder found this morning by one of the local high schools. A man hung from the school’s roof. James feels cold, and… mild terror, as he reads the article, about how the police are thinking this maybe a connection to the rumor circulating among teens about a channel that provides insight on one’s ‘true’ love. The article writer warns parents to monitor their children’s phone and internet use and to report anything they feel is suspicious to help the police in the ongoing investigation, and if anyone has any information, to please step forward.

Fuck.

James doesn’t bother texting Brett back, but when he searches Midnight Channel, links upon links show up. Mostly from Reddits that seem to pertain to areas around Colorado and the surrounding states. Mostly people denying its existence, because how can something like it exist, but then there’s a couple of people who swear they’ve done it.

Doing all this on a phone is garbage, but James still does it, cross-checks the dates with news articles, and each person whose done it is… dead. All within the past two months.

Brett’s right. James is interested, but not in the way he should be. More in the… fear for his life way, really.

Still, he tries to put on a brave face, if only for his sweet baby pup. Tries to go about the morning like normal. Pees. Walks Ein. Feeds Ein. Finds Aleks still asleep. Makes coffee in his shitty pot. Drinks coffee. Finally Aleks wakes up.

And James, again, brings up the Midnight Channel.

“Remember that thing I asked about last night?”

“What?”

“The Midnight Channel.”

“Oh, yeah. What about it?”

“Read this,” And James slides his phone, link opened up to the news article, at Aleks. The blond squints as he reads, taking bites of Frosted Flakes every so often, and then glances back at James.

“Oh.”

“Weird, right?”

“Sounds like a serial killer or something, dude. Nothing weird.”

“No, listen,” James starts, holding up a hand, “since yesterday, I’ve been getting super weird texts from an unknown number. Telling me to visit to find my true love. We fell asleep last night, so I didn’t do it, obviously, but I got another text this morning, saying I could go back next Tuesday.”

Aleks just laughs, like it’s a joke. James wants it to be. “Really? Brett’s messing with you, or that old friend of yours. Ja… Jack?”

“Joe,” James looks annoyed, head shaking, “dude, no, I’m being serious. Have I ever lied to you about this stuff?”

Aleks pauses, squinting at James next, and then frowns. “... No. What do you want to do, dude? We’re just two idiots with a camera.”

“Maybe we should just… try to gather up a bunch of information and… next Tuesday, do it.”

“This sounds so stupid.”

“We spend all night on a not haunted bridge with an Ouija board. That was stupid.”

Aleks sighs, all dramatic, spoon flicking. “Fine. Fine. But it’s gonna be total bullshit.”

James looks pleased, but wishes Aleks didn’t bend so easily, and wishes he could just forget about this. “Cool, dude. Even if its bullshit, maybe we can help the cops out a little. Find something.”

“Yeah, local dumbass heroes,” Aleks stirs his empty bowl around, staring down at the sugary milk left by the cereal, “you better not have gotten me into some Blair Witch Project shit. You know that movie scared me.”

“You’ll be fine!” James says it like a promise, but he doesn’t believe it.

He really, really wishes he did.


	4. among the electrical lights

Three days later, James is lounged out on his couch, idly tapping away at the keys on his laptop. From his bedroom, he can hear the run of the shower, and wonders how long Aleks is gonna take, Aleks who has been staying with him, for, just, you know... the sake of research. Just for research. Still, James can’t deny it’s kinda nice, and Aleks looks… kinda cute in his stuff. Not that he’s looking, of course, and it’s bad enough he’s letting his mind wander to that kind of stuff, considering at hand what’s been going on.

Brett’s been somewhat helpful in supplying James with as much information as he can gather from the media. Kinda helps their camera man has lots of friends. Apparently, the cops, as of yesterday, are deciding it’s just a serial killer using the guise of this rumor to trick kids into going to shady locations. James… wants to believe that so badly, but his gut is telling him there’s something more sinister going on beneath it. He lifts his head from the couch’s armrest, adjusting his beanie before settling back into his task at hand, a document detailing everything that’s public knowledge, what crosses over with rumors, and what Brett’s slid him as private knowledge.

The worst part is there’s enough crossover between all three.

He hasn’t gotten any other weird texts and that’s the only thing that puts his mind at the slightest of ease. Maybe this thing has shaken it’s claws off of him and that’s one thing James hopes has happened. Probably not, though. He lets his mind wander again, of the promise of true love, and then of Aleks again. Not that he believes in this true love bullshit, faker than some of the haunted places they’ve gone, but…

He can’t deny that he does, indeed, like Aleks maybe more than he wants to admit too. Maybe they’re just graduating to the best friend level instead of just normal friend level. Maybe that’s all it is.

James has zoned out enough he doesn’t even notice when Aleks’ hands clap down on his shoulders and then tickle under his chin, making him squeak and nearly toss his laptop off.

“Fuck! Dude!”

“You were totally out of it,” Aleks laughs, pulling away and rounding the back of the couch, leaning over the back of it, “what were you thinking about?”

James turns red. “Nothing.”

“Sure. Thinking ‘bout that channel bullshit again? You’re probably just thinkin’ it’s gonna show you a hot babe, but it’s not.” 

“Don’t be a dick,” James sighs, sitting up and looking up at Aleks, “I was just… comparing notes. Between Brett’s stuff, and rumors, and then the cops stuff... it’s just really kind of eerie how it all matches up. Like, there’s a couple of stray leads, but… everything’s so closely knit.”

“I mean, I guess it’s weird,” Aleks shrugs, pointing at the laptop screen, “but really, it’s not that strange. Cops are going off what they have, and Brett’s notes are just glorified public knowledge… we’re still flying pretty blind. It’s just gonna be some stupid weird teenager cult thing, and they’re stupid and accidentally killed someone, and then someone in the weird cult thing got the bloodlust, and now keeps killing other people.”

James frowns. “Sounds like a video game, dude. Silent Hill, or something.”

“Maybe,” Aleks shrugs, patting James’ head before pulling away, “just don’t kill yourself over this. It’s not worth it. We can go on Craigslist and find some weird haunted house and go dick around in that for a couple of hours. Get your mind right off this shit.”

James shrugs and looks away, scrubbing a hand over his face. “We… should try to do something. The last video’s not doing so hot.”

“Maybe we should,” Aleks starts, gesturing around a little, “do a small thing. Build up to this channel thing. I mean, this is what we do, right? We could do something with our notes, and then say we’re gonna film in a couple of days…”

“You’ve actually come up with one good idea,” James tilts his head back, grinning up at Aleks, “shit, dude. Should we just film it, or get Brett?”

“I don’t wanna pay Brett anymore,” Aleks sighs, dramatic, and rounds the couch again to sit down besides James, “our phones are fine. Let’s do this.”

 

* * *

 

Surprisingly, the video comes out pretty ok. Both of them manage to not stutter or make a fool of themselves, and that’s considered a big win for Aleks, who is the king of making a fool of himself. James doesn’t bother editing it, saving the video from his phone to his hard drive and uploading it. And maybe he makes the title kinda click-baity, but this _is_ their job. James leans back against the back of the couch, an arm outstretched along the back as he watches the slow upload bar creep up and up.

At his side, his phone buzzes.

James checks in, assuming Brett, but why would it be Brett? Why would anything be simple right now?

**Believe in us, James. We _will_ see you Tuesday night. Your true love is waiting patiently.**

The text is enough to make his head hurt, and when he calls for Aleks, the blond takes his sweet fucking time coming over. At least James has half the mind to furiously tap his phone screen to make sure it doesn’t go black.

“Dude, come fucking quicker! Stop pissing and come look!”

“I’m coming!” Aleks yells, in some direction, and when he finally comes out, Ein’s cradled in his arms like a baby. He stands behind the couch, squinting at James, whose decided to go quiet and keep smacking at his phone’s screen like his life depends on it.

It’s a moment, but James can see Aleks’ eyes go wide in the screen, and he tilts his head back to look up at him.

“Dude.”

“Ok, so you’re not lying,” Aleks starts, shifting Ein in his arms, “dude, that’s fucked up.”

“Thanks dipshit!” James tosses his phone down, throwing his hands up, and Ein barks as she mistakes his mild distraught state for excitement, wiggling around in Aleks’ arms, “this is so fucked up!”

“Look, we’re doing it, aren’t we? So don’t sweat it. I’m here,” Aleks tosses the corgi onto the couch to let her flop over and dig at James’ thigh, yipping, “I won’t let any serial killer get you. Promise.”

James can hear the slight tease in his tone, the slight joke, but… he feels warm, feels like Aleks genuinely wants to make sure he’s safe. Shit.

“Tuesday is going to… be dogshit.”

“Yeah, but you have me.”

Yeah. James has Aleks.

That’s what worries him the most, too.


	5. lights inside their eyes

They don’t really know how to prepare for something like this. A bridge, a haunted hotel, a dilapidated house… you know, you can prepare for those. Aleks has enough knives to supply an army and Brett’s pretty big and intimidating, and James is… James. He’s smart, or so he likes to think he is. Maybe if he really was, he wouldn’t be chasing some weird rumor where people die.

Aleks eventually goes home, says he can only live off James’ cold leftover pizza before he’s going to just become a pile of grease. He only lives a couple streets away, but the separation only grows James’ anxiety and his loneliness takes a nice root at the base of it. At least Ein helps quell some of it, flopping all over him any time James sits down somewhere, looking all cute with her dumb sausage body and little legs, and it takes his mind off of all this weird ghosty bullshit when he cuddles up with her. Until, of course, his phone buzzes any time, and then the cycle starts anew. James just spends the couple days alone trying to mentally prepare himself in between helping out shitty customers at his retail job. At least they take his mind off everything else.

Brett stops being helpful after his media buddies stop supplying new information. He doesn’t believe James with the texts, but every message seems coded with a ‘don’t do anything stupid, please’. Too bad they’re both incredibly stupid and nothing can change that. So when Monday night rolls around, and James feels like puking every couple of seconds. Calling out of work is easy; his boss gives him a pass, and James spends the morning in bed, using Ein as a pillow. Once one rolls around, he forces himself to get up and do something productive.

A shower clears his mind slightly, but once he’s at his desktop, bundled up in a shirt and sweats, he’s just reminded again of everything at hand.

_aleks u @ home?_

**Yea**

James heart flutters. Asking Aleks to come over… would it be too weird?

_can u come over?_

**You ok?**

James wants to say no.

_figured u should just come over tonight. if ur not doin anything. called out of work._

**K**

James pockets his phone, staring at his desktop background. He should try to do… something more productive, like edit a video. A video that doesn’t exist. Or go yell at people in comments. Or just… _something_. Instead, he sits there, and when his door opens, because of course his only spare key is Aleks’, he all too eagerly gets up.

“Hey,” James breaths, standing in the hallway, watching Aleks kick his sneakers off, “no work today?”

“Nah. Have today off,” Aleks shrugs, already making himself at home on James’ couch, feet propped up on the crappy coffee table, “you sure you’re ok?”

James shrugs. “I’m fine,” He lies, going to get them drinks. He settles down next to Aleks, handing him the can of Coke, and… maybe he gets a little cuddly. Close to the blond, who just lays an arm over James’ shoulder, patting his chest.

It’s easy to fall into that couch potato routine again. Curled against Aleks, watching whatever shit Netflix throws at them. James doesn’t even give two shits when his phone dings a couple of times. Aleks and him go back and forth commenting on the tv, ribbing each others choices. It’s almost as if tomorrow isn’t going to happen and they’re not going to go fucking chase a rumor down.

Somewhere between an episode of It’s Always Sunny and the start of some weird ass holiday movie Aleks threw on, James falls asleep. When he wakes up, groggy and feeling like ass, head on Aleks’ chest, he just finds his phone for the time. Only 6 pm… Jesus. Naps were deadly. He kept himself curled close to the blond, scrolling through his notifs. Of course, a couple from that fucked up number, but he just ignores them. Maybe if he doesn’t read them, it’ll go away.

He drags himself away from Aleks eventually, who is still snoring, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled down over his face a little. He looks cute, and James kind of hates it. He just takes care of Ein, letting her out to romp around in the backyard and tries to find food. It’s just… more pizza, though, and he hopes Aleks doesn’t yell at him for it. It’s just cheap and right by his place. He heats it up in the oven and goes back to Aleks, still passed out on the couch. Lazy. James lets Ein back in and then settles back against Aleks, head on the blond’s chest as he watches what’s left of the Netflix queue that’s begun to wind down to slim pickings.

  
He’s busy playing some tapping game on his phone when a warm hand pats his head, and James glances up, giving Aleks a little smile.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”

“Mm,” Aleks grunts, stretching and wincing as something in his back cracks. Fuck, “gotta… piss, get off my bladder…”

James just laughs and pulls away, watching Aleks shuffle to his bathroom. In the meantime, he checks on the pizza, decides it’s fine, and takes it out. There’s an odd amount of pieces, so James tries to cut the biggest piece in two, and give them both two and a half slices. Good enough. He replaces their Cokes from earlier and when he sits back down at his couch, Aleks has already taken his spot back. Such a bum.

“You’re going to turn me into a pizza, dude,” Aleks mumbles, but he takes his plate and soda happily, arm stretching out along the back of the couch, “was that really your plan? No fucking weird rumor, just pizza?”

“It’s cheap!” James protests, pouting at him, “and it’s quick. “

“Yeah, sure.”

“Whatever, jerk,” James mumbles around a mouthful, reaching for his Playstation controller. He clicks out of what’s playing now and throws on another television show with enough seasons to burn through. The silence falls between them and it’s comfortable. James can’t imagine having this kind of silence with anyone else, where it doesn’t feel weird, where it’s just normal.

And the night passes. They end up getting into a half-assed punching match over Mario Kart and then, by the time one am rolls around, James figures they should sleep. He doesn’t even complain when Aleks follows him to bed and they cuddle up together, Ein flopped over James’ legs.

And not being alone, being with someone James cares about, he sleeps easy. He let’s go of his anxiety of his weird texts, of what the hell is going to happen to them tomorrow.

If anything happens to them tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise it'll fucking get to the point eventually. you want me to get to the point faster? https://ko-fi.com/liesmith
> 
> anyways thanks for the continued support


	6. the lovers that went wrong

When James wakes up, not only is he missing Aleks, his dog is gone too. Logically, it makes sense if Aleks walked Ein for him, but his mind is pretty much foggy sleep mush, and he’s pretty sure they are both dead. Only when his phone dings from the night stand does James’ brain wake up, just a bit more, and puts two and two together.

**com opn dor 4 me dg wild n fod hat.**

Right. James manages to ignore his bladder for a moment and exits his room to the front door, opening it for Aleks, who is balancing a dozen count donut box and coffee on top of that, and Ein in his other hand. Quickly, James takes the coffee, teetering on the edge of tipping over everyone, including his spazzy ass dog, and closes the door behind the two of them. The donuts are taken next and James relocates both things to the kitchen counter, watching as Ein trots after him, leash still on.

She was a mess.

He leaned down and unclipped her, folding the leash and setting it on the counter before taking his coffee, eying Aleks’ mess of sugar and ice and maybe coffee, holding his warm one close to him.

“You didn’t have to walk her.”

“Nah, love Ein,” Aleks gets up from where he’s bent over, scooping kibble into Ein’s empty bowl, whose begun to do a little tap dance before shoving her face into it, crunching away, “and you always get pissy if I wake you up.”

True. James takes a small sip of his coffee, enjoying the burn. “Yeah, I guess so. What kinda donuts did you get?”

“My favorites,” Aleks shrugs and lifts the box, opening the top and revealing the choices to James, who all too happily grabs a cream filled one, immediately stuffing his face. Aleks just stares, mumbles a quiet ‘ew’, and closes the box, “my man.”

“S’good,” James says around a mouthful, finding his way to his couch and flopping down onto it, snuggling into a corner. Aleks finds his way to the other corner of the couch, feet up on the coffee table, sipping at his coffee with a glazed donut in the other hand.

“You ready for tonight?”

Of course Aleks has to ask. James just shrugs, mood instantly deflated. He was trying really hard to not think about it at all. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah,” Aleks offers around his own mouthful, looking towards the television, “I don’t know either. The camera, right? Or should we just use our phones?”

“Phones. No way is Brett going to let us use his equipment for this. He’ll skin us alive.”

“Ah, true,” Aleks sighs, “should we bring like, a kitchen knife, my man?”

“Uh?”

“Defense?”

“You know how to use a knife?” James asks, brow quirked, and Aleks laughs, a bit sheepish.

“Nah. But maybe you do.”

“No, the hell?” James rolls his eyes, taking another drink of his coffee, “let’s just… go into tonight expecting nothing. That way, if we do die, Brett gets to tell us ‘I told you so’ and he gets a dog.”

Aleks laughs, his weird jittery ‘ha ha ha’ that makes James laugh in return, and his anxiety melts away, just like that.

* * *

 It doesn’t last. His phone makes sure of it, leaving the cryptid messages. They pass the time with video games and then dinner at some hot dog stand, only because Ein can come with, and back at home the sense of dread hangs over James like a weighted blanket. The hours pass slow and by the time it becomes 11:50, James feels floaty. A nauseous sort of weightless that Aleks doesn’t seem to have, but he keeps wiping his hands on his jeans. At least he’s nervous too.

“What do you think’ll happen?” Aleks asks, staring at the blank screen of James’ television, “like, do you think we’ll blue skidoo’d it?”

“What?” James laughs, nervously adjusting his beanie, “Blue’s Clues, really?”

“Yeah, dude,” Aleks shrugs, checking his phone for the time for the umpteenth moment, and glances back at James, “or do you think we’ll just like, have a shared drug hallucination?”

“With all the weed you smoke, I don’t know if you can hallucinate anymore.”

“Cold.”

James just grins and shoves at Aleks’ shoulder, temporarily distracted. In the briefest moments of not paying attention, the television flickers to life. The static on the screen is silent and in between flickers, it shows off their shitty Colorado town.

Neither of them notice until it’s too late. James feels sleepy, and besides him, Aleks is beginning to nod off. James has a second to realize this isn’t normal, and all he can do is grab the blond’s hand before he’s gone.

* * *

 When he wakes, his head’s pounding, but Aleks’ hand is still in his, a warm, solid, comforting weight. James slowly sits up, not letting go of Aleks’ hand at all, and…

It’s their town, but it’s not right.

There is a heavy fog settled in and when James moves his free hand, he pushes the fog around slightly, only for it to reform where he’s touched. Right. That’s totally normal. When he gets his bearings, the street before him is illuminated in some pale grey-blue light, and when James glances around, he realizes it is his street.

He’d check on Ein if he wasn’t so worried for his own survivability right now.

Besides him, Aleks is starting to come too, and Jame holds his hand tighter.

“Fuck,” Aleks swears, holding his head, “feels like I got… hit by a truck.”

“Aleks,” James is quieter, looking over at him, “... l-look.”

James points outwards and Aleks squints through his own headache, but then he notices it. Around them are shadows in the shape of people, and around each of their necks is a bright, blood-red string.

“Oh,” Aleks says, “oh. This is some Freddy Kreuger shit.”

“Thanks,” James whispers, harshly, slowly climbing to his feet. He still refuses to let go of Aleks’ hand, and the blond doesn’t seem to mind, sticking himself close, “do you have your phone?”

Aleks pats himself down with his free hand and frowns. “... No. But I was holding it. Where’d it go?”

Shit. James just shakes his head and takes a step forward, through the fog. “Forget it. We need to find a way out of here, man.”

* * *

 After about ten minutes of walking, they deduce this:

The shadows are people who seem to be going through their actions of the day. A shorter shadow they follow leads them to the path to a school, and inside the school’s courtyard, there are dozens of them, just standing around. Some are walking, and through the fog, James can make out more shapes inside the building.

The red strings are a mystery they have to shelf for now. Neither of them are brave enough to try and follow where any of them go, all the criss crossed lines and knots in them.

After another ten minutes, that sleeping feeling overtakes them again. Aleks tries to fight it, but he’s slowing down, and James is no better, and…

Down they go, hands still held tight, and…

They awake back on James’ couch, and it’s almost the morning. They just stare at each other, and when Aleks wordlessly gets up, James follows to his bedroom. Inside, Ein’s passed out in the middle of the mattress, and they work around her, still holding hands.

Whatever the fuck that was, neither of them want to go through it again, but James knows deep down they will, and he hates himself for it.


	7. thousands you lost in the fright

James wakes to Ein whining at the bedroom door. Clearly in their weirded out states, they just, forgot a dog existed in this apartment. He untangles himself from Aleks, whose pretty tightly wound around James, and scoops his dog up. James is glad he lives on the second floor; waddling with a full bladder with Ein down the flight of stairs to the tiny apartment backyard, he lets her free and goes to relieve himself, too.

When hands are washed and he settles back into bed, sitting on the edge, his phone tells him it’s just past noon. Usual for Aleks to sleep this late, but not James. He glances over his shoulder, Aleks snuggled beneath the blankets, hair a bedhead mess. He looks not like the gremlin he generally is and James… James realizes his chest aches, just a little. Shit. He looks away, running a hand through his own hair, the awkward stages from being too short and now starting to grow it out. At least a beanie still hides it, and he finds his tangled in the blanket, pulling it onto his head and going to retrieve his yappy sausage.

Ein back in safe and sound, James decides he might as well update Brett. Not that he’s been an incredible help, but you know. They’re friends, or at least, James likes to think so. He writes a long winded text that sends in five parts and then…

What now?

James guesses he can try to investigate but he’s not even sure what to search for. Weird upside down city gets him nothing. Shadow people get him ghost shit, which while this is ghost shit, it is not the ghost shit he wants. Red string gets him something cohesive, though. According to the internet, it’s from an old Chinese legend wherein a god uses a red string to connect people who are destined to be together, in love. James spends a bit going through a couple of websites and forums, but most of it turns up fiction nonsense that is not helpful at all. But, by now, Aleks has come out, and James listens to him bang around in the kitchen.

He comes to the living room after deciding on a semi-stale donut, flopping down besides James, legs kicked up on the coffee table, all scrunched up in himself. James will never understand how he can go from dead asleep to a state close to it.

“So what’re we deciding last night was? A nice dream?”

“... We both know it wasn’t, dude,” James frowns, kind of… upset? Bothered? That Aleks is trying to write it off as a joke.

Aleks shrugs. “Ok, but what the hell are we supposed to do about it? Uh, I dunno about you, but I’m not equipped to fight _literal_ supernatural beings.”

“We don’t know that that’s what it is,” James turn his laptop towards Aleks, head tilted, “but the red strings have a lead, at least.”

Aleks is quiet as he reads it over and then looks up at James, brow quirked. “You know, you just proved me right. Supernatural shit.”

James glares and closes the lid to his laptop, setting it besides him on the couch. Aleks isn’t wrong, but he doesn’t want to indulge him anyways. That’s usually a death sentence. “... I think we need to go back. It happens every Tuesday, right? So we just have to ride it out until next week. Pretend we didn’t get transported to some freaky mirror world of the city. Think you can do that?”

Aleks taps his temple. “You think I hold anything in this noggin?”

James wants to stay serious, but he smiles, and then Aleks’ eyes crinkle, and they both dissolve into laughing. They’d be okay; maybe it was really a dream. The shared hallucination, as friends just… had together. 

* * *

 Throughout the week, Aleks stays at his place. James doesn’t mind it, but there’s something… tense, in the air. Awkward. He hopes it isn’t him causing it, but James feels like it is. Aleks doesn’t seem affected by it and they still sleep in James’ bed, together, every night. You know, like bros do. What normal, completely heterosexual bros do.

Brett is still little help. He tries to investigate for James, but turns up nothing, and apologizes with emojis. James kind of hates him right now. Instead, he tries to focus on prepping them for their next… blue skidoo’d, as Aleks called it. Phones clearly can’t come, so no electronics. There is no need for flashlights. James considers a weapon, and when questioning Aleks about the decision, the blond produces a switchblade.

Yeah, of fucking course he has one. And of fucking course he cuts his knuckles when he goes to show James, which just causes both of them to just start yelling. Aleks because he’s hurt, James because Aleks’ is a fucking idiot, and they’re just _loud_. Ein even joins in, barking over them as James cleans the cut and wraps Aleks’ knuckles. Fucking idiot.

After the fiasco they settle in, comfortable on the couch. Aleks’ arms are around his middle, head on James’ chest, and James is just sitting here, pretending things haven’t escalated from that stupid night on the bridge to now. Maybe there’s things James would admit if it wasn’t so buckwild crazy right now, but even then… he’s not sure he could muster the courage to do so.

He nods off without thinking, nestled under Aleks’ warm, hugging the blond tight to him. Aleks responds in the light, hands clenching and unclenching in the soft fabric of his hoodie.

When James comes too, he coughs up… fog. Or something else fucked up, but his lungs burn as he stumbles to his feet, looking around with wide eyes. He’s on a street, blocks from his home, and the most important thing sticks out to him: Aleks was not here. Not like last time. James pats himself down and finds the switchblade, confiscated after Aleks’ ordeal, and exhales. Okay, he could navigate this fucking place and find Aleks. He could be a hero.

James tries not to touch any of the weird fucking shadows as he walks. There’s a small egging in his brain to stab them, see what happens, but he’s just scared. That’s what he has to keep telling himself to keep sane, but it’s not lying. He’s terrified out of his mind, wondering where Aleks could be. Why did it keep them together the first time, but not now? Was whatever doing this… smart? James doesn’t want to think too hard about it, only because he can’t deal with that. Urban legends were legends for a reason. This was so not that, not in a million fucking years.

He walks for what feels like hours and when he sees another person, it is not Aleks.

They are brunet, which was what Aleks used to be. Taller, which Aleks is not. The red string is wrapped around their throat, but they are not a specter.

“Hey!” James shouts, immediately, and the man turns to look at him. Man… is a strong word. The… kid? Teenager? has an extreme baby face, and looks fucking terrified. Looks the way James feels, really.

“Hey, uh, look, I’m… normal,” James starts, holding his hands up as he inches closer to the teen, “what’s your name?”

“... Trevor.”

“Uh, I’m… James. Do you know what the hell’s going on?”

The baby face just shakes his head. “I… don’t know, man. I got a weird text. I woke up here. Then this… thing around my neck. It’s all… hecked up.”

James just nods and lowers his hands, looking around. “I know. It’s… not normal. I need you to not follow that string.”

“What? Why? What if it lets me out, man?!”

James doesn’t know how to explain anything without freaking the kid out more. Instead, he goes with actions.

First, he grabs Trevor’s arm.

Second, the switchblade comes out.

Third, James cuts the string, despite Trevor flailing, and…

They both fall on their asses, Trevor yelping, and James just feeling kind of bad he startled this kid so bad, and then probably crushed all his organs. He climbs off quickly, pocketing the blade, and staring.

Trevor’s holding his throat, but there’s no blood. The string has dissolved, like it was burnt up, and they both look at each other.

Then it goes black.

James wakes up in a cold sweat and all he can think about is Aleks. His hands shake as he pretty much falls off his couch and when he rushes down his hall, Aleks is… there. In his bed, asleep, like nothing’s wrong.

James’ head hurts too much to even start to unravel what just happens, so he crawls into bed besides the blond, and holds him like he’s the only thing left in this world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hm


	8. trade our places in the night

James wakes for once with a body still next to him in bed. Ein’s nestled between his legs and he pats downwards and finds Aleks’ head on his chest. He relishes the quiet of the morning, the stillness of everything… and then he remembers last night. Someone else was in there with him and the string was gone. He fidgets around a little, jostling Ein a bit, and finds his phone on his nightstand. James thumbs through the local news and finds nothing. No new story about a death that is unexplained and cops don’t know anything about. No baby-faced kid named Trevor thrown in front of a train or something. It gets so quiet that James can hear his heart pounding in his skull and he exhale a breath he was holding, staring up at his ceiling.

He knows two things:

One, he legitimately saved someone.

Two, Aleks will never believe him.

James just lets a nervous laugh bubble up out of him and he scoots out from under Aleks, lifts Ein up and throws her over his shoulder as he leaves, letting her out first before dealing with himself. A shower gets him feeling a bit more heroic, since after all, he _is_ a totally cool hero. When he comes out, Aleks is still in bed, curled in the spot James had vacated. He looks… pretty cute. James wants to kiss him pretty bad, but he just pushes those feelings into the deepest pit of his tummy and goes to fetch Ein from outside.

When he comes back up with her dancing between his legs, Aleks is awake, sitting on his couch and eating cereal.

“Thanks for making me food too, dude,” James pips up his arrival and Aleks just shrugs, leaning back against the couch.

“You went there last night, huh?” His voice is kinda soft, or is James imagining it?

“Freaky topsy turvy world? Yeah,” James sits down next to Aleks, fidgeting before adjusting his beanie, “I coughed up fog and found someone else.”

Aleks is quiet, so James continues on. “He had that string. I, uh… the switchblade was still in my pocket, so I just cut it off. It disappeared, and, uh… nobody died, Aleks. It always happens the next day, they find the body, right? Look.”

He grabs the remote between them on the couch and flips to the news, using the remote as a pointer. “Nobody’s dead, Aleks.”

Aleks has gone to slurping his milk noisily from his cereal bowl and James wants to smack his head into it, but resists the urge. After a beat Aleks resurfaces and wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, looking over at James.

“So what do you want to do? Go hog wild and slice and dice your way through a bunch of strings and hope we do something that nobody will believe us about?”

Aleks is right and James looks away, hand dropping to his lap with the remote. “I don’t know, Aleks, but we have to do something.”

The silence falls between them because as much as Aleks doesn’t want to admit it, they both know that is that. They _have_ to do something, because if they don’t, who will? More people will just die and James can’t sit by knowing he might be able to make it all stop if he’s right, if they just have to get rid of the strings.

He also doesn’t want to mention that last night, when he woke up there, James thought he saw red string around his neck, too.

 

* * *

 

 Aleks leaves a couple hours later. Says he misses his own house. James just knows he doesn’t want to face the facts.

So he texts Brett for company and they go to lunch. Brett’s choosing, because _someone_ has to be a vegetarian, but James can deal with it. The food isn’t bad, some sort of quinoa with veggies,  
but his stomach is sour, and he ends up only having a couple of bites before he’s pushing it all around his plate.

“That bad?” Brett asks, taking a drink of water, “I’m kind of hurt.”

“No, I… I know you won’t believe me, but remember that stuff we were talking about?”

Brett nods. “Yeah, the midnight shit. What’s up?”

“I know how to stop it,” James tries to keep his voice from shaking, but he knows he must sound insane, “like, I mean… for real, Brett. There should have been someone dead today, right? But the cops didn’t find anyone.”

“Are you trying to say you were supposed to die or something? James, this is kind of dark,” Brett tries to joke, but it falls completely flat. When James doesn’t speak anymore, Brett frowns and adjusts his baseball cap, “ok. Let’s say you’re right. You know how to stop it. What do you plan on doing?”

James fidgets. “I’m… going to burn the fucking place down.”

Brett laughs, startled. “What? Burn what down?”

“The strings, in… the freaky friday version of the city. They’re everywhere, and they have to connect to something. So if they all disappear, then it should stop.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

That’s the part James doesn’t know how to fix. If his wild plan doesn’t stop the deaths, then what? He just looks down at his plate, shoving it around and around. “... I don’t know.”

Brett sighs and reaches over, covers one of James’ hands with his own. He gives it a squeeze, waits, and when James doesn’t look up, he does it again. Finally, he does glance up, and Brett offers a small smile.

“Don’t do something stupid, James.”

Stupid was probably his middle name, but James smiles back. “I won’t, Brett. I swear.”

 

* * *

 

 Aleks barely texts him and life, somehow, goes back to normal. James works and plays with Ein and works and eats Taco Bell at 3 am and works and misses Aleks so, so, so much. If he wants to go radio silent, that’s fine and dandy, but James could really use him for his own sanity. Instead, he just focuses on prepping, which turns out to be just a zippo with a pot leaf on the front, left by Aleks months ago. He searched for that thing for hours but here on a Friday, James finds it with ease on his kitchen counter, as if magnetized to it. Makes him kind of pissed to find it so easily, since he had to invest twenty dollars on a new one to stop Aleks from bitching, but James knows he’s just trying to fill the quiet space Aleks’ left with anything _of_ Aleks.

Too bad it’s just a fucking zippo and not Aleks.

The weekend comes and goes. Work sucks up most of his time and James does anything to avoid going back to an empty apartment, picking up overtime and extra shifts, just to keep himself busy. Sunday night rolls around and when he unlocks his apartment door after a full day of work, he doesn’t even see Aleks on his couch until the blond pips up.

“Sup.”

His pizza box drops from his hands as James yelps, throwing his phone in Aleks’ general direction, as if it would do anything.

“Settle! Shit, man, it’s just me!” Aleks laughs, grabbing James’ phone before it bounces off the couch and onto the floor, “look, I let myself in, calm down.”

James lets his fright turn into anger, livid as he picks up his pizza and goes to the kitchen to set it back down. He returns to the living room and smacks Aleks, hard, in the back of his head. “What the fuck? Couldn’t have texted me, Aleksandr?!”

“Ow! Man, look, I… had a lot to think about,” Aleks looks dejected, scooting over on the couch as he hands James his phone back, keeping his gaze down, “I… guess you’re right. If we can stop it, we should.”

That’s what James wants to hear but it makes his stomach sink anyways. He sits down next to Aleks, letting their shoulders press together, knees just touching. “... Thank you, Aleks.”

Aleks’ hand sits on his knee, turns palm up, and James quietly slides his own fingers between the blond’s. The warmth is comforting and he hates how much he missed Aleks. “Um, I… found your zippo. The one you lost. I think if we just go in and start burning the strings, we can go from there.”

“Fuck, seriously? Nice, I have two now,” Aleks grins and then it falters when he processes the rest of James’ words, “Burn it all down? Uh, I… if you think so, man.”

“It’s our only chance.”

“I know.”

Silence falls and James just leans into Aleks, holding tight onto his hand. “We can do this. I swear, Aleks. We can fix this.”

James wants to say promise but he knows swearing itself is probably a lie. He just wants to get out of this alive, and with Aleks, and he has a funny feeling that might not be how it goes.

He’ll find out in two days, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi it's me again, still being a pos and all that. im trying to hardcap this at 10 chapters bc my original like plan of 6 is dead. enjoy
> 
> boydamsel.tumblr.com


	9. burn your kingdom down

Patience has never been his strongest suit and this… month? Two months? Time’s been kind of a wishy washy turbulence that James never had the strongest hold on, but it’s been worse since this shit started. The only constant is the zippo he’s been fidgeting with since he’s found it, turning it over and over in his hand, the steady weight a reminder he’s still _here_ and not _there_ , that this world exists and it’s not going anywhere. At least.

James hopes it’s not going anywhere.

Aleks has been periodically checking in via texts, though Brett takes crown for most obnoxious. He doesn’t trust either of them, which James totally gets since he’s basically going to burn down a world that seemingly only exists in his mind, and, well, he’d be worried too if he was Brett, but the steady ding every hour of

_Still alive?_

does get pretty annoying. James stopped answering for two of them and that just made Brett call him, which was even more annoying. At least Brett takes ‘y’ for an answer.

Though, now that Monday evening settles with an uncomfortable air, James wonders if maybe the whole zippo idea is still a good one. He doesn’t really know what else to think of and Aleks is little to no help, still reluctant about this stupid plan that stupid James came up with after two seconds of thinking with his stupid brain.

He thinks, with his stupid brain, that maybe, if he wishes hard enough, it’ll go away on it’s own. Maybe some other dumb idiot will figure it out and stop it. Maybe not by fire. Maybe by some logical way, like…

Oh, who the fuck is he kidding. James is literally dealing with the supernatural and nobody is ever going to figure this out and all that bullshit. God _fucking_ dammit.

So Tuesday morning, after a sleepless night, James stocks up on energy drinks and stares as his phone dings at him. Right on cue.

**James, this isn’t how you treat true love. Be kind**

That’s.

That’s fucking ominous. James never assumed this shit was sentient, and now…

**We will show you everything. One more time, James.**

**We’ll see you soon.**

The air feels heavy and James sags under the sudden weight, head dizzy. Oh, shit. _Oh shit_. This thing knows what’s going on, whatever it is, and it’s probably going to…

James pauses. His stupid brain supplies to him that whatever it is, it hasn’t shown itself yet, and maybe it can’t do anything. Maybe it’s a stupid baby ghost with zero powers that can’t haunt good and get better ones. Yeah, you know… makes sense right now, applying video game logic to all of this. It makes his feet move, makes him drive to work, makes him not fist fight a soccer mom trying to buy a Wii for her kid. Makes him go home. Makes him not surprised to see Aleksandr on his couch this time. Makes James drop his things at the door and crawl into the empty space besides the blond who responds in the like, arms wrapping around James, who tucks his own under Aleks’ armpits, and.

They’re not home anymore. Concrete beneath them and fog, cold air biting.

Whatever it is, it’s not waiting for midnight anymore, and of fucking course, it takes Aleks from him. James gets to his feet and, thank God, still finds the zippo on his body, but for now he uses it for light. It’s darker than James has ever seen and even the light of the zippo, however little it is, doesn’t cut through it.

Baby ghost powers have accelerated pretty quickly.

Though, as he looks at the concrete beneath him, he still sees red. The strings litter the fake Colorado and…

He burns shit down.

The zippo cuts through them like nothing and around him, little bursts appear, like tiny fireworks as the strings hit shadows, and they, plainly, explode. James really, really hopes he’s not killing anyone, especially since now the chain reaction has started.

Each tiny firework sets off another, and now James can see in the dark, and where they all connect too.

Their shitty town is gone and laid out before him is one of the numerous dumb mountains around here. And laid out across that… sits a woman, a pale blue color, with her head down and weeping, giant in size. She is not moving otherwise, though her arms are outstretched and her palms are upwards, and in the center of each sits the red strings.

Each firework sends another tear down her cheeks.

And it’s so mesmerizing to start walking towards her, his feet moving on their own. The woman moves as he does, arm lowering down to his feet, and James climbs into the open palm. He’s lifted with very obvious ease to the woman, who lifts her head.

Her eyes are closed, despite the tears still falling. Later, James will remember that they’re gems, sparkly and hard, but right now all he can see are rows and rows of teeth and is reminded of a shark with their jaws. The hand is lifting him towards it and his mind, despite screaming, is not making him move, or react, or… anything. James just sits pretty in her palm, throat dry, and squeezes his eyes shut.

The hand stops moving and jerks, pulling James in sharply and then jutting back out, and he’s snapped out of whatever had its hold on him and beneath him, the hand is jittering, vibrating like what he assumes an earthquake is like, and then.

Then he’s falling.

James assumes he must have blacked out because when he wakes up, he’s still in shitty fake town, but it’s so much brighter now. Still foggy, and besides him sits Aleks, arms on his knees as he plays with his own zippo like none of this just happened. Like there definitely wasn’t a giant lady right in fucking front of them, and oh _shit_ , she’s still got to be there, and…

When he looks up, she’s gone.

“Aleks,” James says, hoarse, pushing up onto his palms and getting in his face, “Aleks, what the fuck?”

“She… had her stupid mouth open, I just threw a fucking stick on fire in there. Are all ghosts this weak?”

A stick.

James just stares at Aleks and starts laughing and falls back onto the concrete, hiding his red face in his arms. A fucking stick.

Aleks just lays a hand on his head, fingers catching in a stray curl.

“... Your idiot plan worked.”

“I know,” James says, quiet, turns his face to just peek at Aleks, “I want to go home.”

“Yeah, me too. I hope I didn’t fuck us,” Aleks laments and climbs to his feet, holding his hand out, “c’mon. We should find somewhere to go, dude.”

James takes it and lets himself be pulled up, head lowered as they walk, letting Aleks lead them. The city is even more eerie now that there is no shadows and no string to accompany them. The fog is still the worst, but it’s not as heavy anymore, doesn’t feel like it’s own being. They walk for what James hopes is just minutes but feels like centuries when a tug comes at his shirt, and he stops, looking behind him. The hell?

Things move fast.

One, the breath gets knocked out of James so fast that he doubles over.

Two, Aleks is yelling, and the world gets dark again.

Three, they’re, or he, is home.

James only finds out about that last part when he wakes up at noon the next day, half off his couch with no one. He can’t even hear Ein snoring and, for a second, he thinks he hasn’t left that place. He’s still there, ready to be devoured, unable to move at all.

Then his phone starts ringing and… and he’s here, time comes to him, sounds are loud and familiar, and he doesn’t even mind that when he answers, Brett is yelling at him on the phone for not answering, for turning his phone off, what the fuck James Wilson?!

He’s _alive_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya'll.... WISHED this was over................. and dead............. i know.............
> 
> boydamsel.tumblr.com


	10. were we angels after all

The first thing James does, after hanging up on Brett, is tear through his apartment for Aleks. This shitty ghost thing is bullshit and he’s glad it’s fucking dead, because he is sick of looking for the blond. He finds Aleks in his bathtub, wonders if this ghost thing thinks this shit is funny, and shakes him awake.

Earns him a hastily thrown punch to his jaw, but James takes it as he just kind of wraps his arms so tightly and Aleks’ monkey brain catches up with his normal adult brain and he does the same, a hand fisting in the ugly Rick and Morty t-shirt James is wearing, and… just holding each other, it feels so good right now just to be held by another person, but if James was being honest.

It just feels good to be held by Aleks.

Somehow they untangle and Aleks is let free of the bathtub and quietly they both make their way to the couch. James isn’t sure what to say or do or think anymore and faintly he can make out his phone ringing. Probably Brett again to yell at him for hanging up now. Instead, he just leans back and feels the weight of the couch shift as Aleks just slides up right against him and, somehow, despite everything, things sink into place. James turns on Hulu, throws on the same old shit he always watches when he wants to keep his mind off of life. Ein comes and cuddles with them, seemingly undisturbed by all this nonsense. It’s about three in the morning right now but James can’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be than right here, right now, on his couch with Aleks.

His body hates him in the morning. James wakes up to a crick in his neck and Aleks’ full weight on him, and if he’s being honest, probably drool, but he’s trying real hard to not think about that. Instead, he’s staring at the face of Brett, who is looming over them like some scary grim reaper, clearly pissed out of his mind.

“You pieces of shit,” He starts, voice calm and collected, “where the fuck have you been? You hung up on me.”

“We… burned everything,” James says it more like a question, like he’s not so sure of it himself, “it’s over?”

“What?” Brett laughs, “you’re delirious. Aleks is probably crushing the tiny bit of nerve that connects to your brain.”

He’s not wrong there. James grunts suddenly, remembering Aleks is here, and is amazed he’s sleeping through Brett’s bitching. He sits up, shoving the blond off roughly, and only then does he wake, startled and looking around with wide eyes before he remembers.

“Oh, shit, dude,” Aleks laughs, voice rough from sleep, “hey, how’d you get in here, Brett?”

“A key,” Brett monotones, looking between the two, “come on. You two need… some TLC, or something.”

 

* * *

 

Brett treats them to brunch. They still both look like fucking messes, but James is okay with that. Aleks was there with him last night, and whether or not Brett believes their tall tale, he knows he had a witness with him all along. Reluctantly, James finds himself parting ways with Aleks afterwards, who just gives him a sad look and mentions needing space.

James doesn’t super like the sound of that, as if they’re breaking up, but he doesn’t blame Aleks at all, and life just goes back to normal. Eat, shower, work, stay up too late. James watches the news each day like a hawk and when three days later roll around, the usual time for a body to show up, nothing appears.

Neither does Aleks, though.

He’s a week and a half deep of scanning the news, police reports, anything since that night, and James feels relieved. Probably can’t go back to normal ghost hunting after this, but you know. They saved the world. Or, well. They saved their shitty Colorado town from being eaten by some weird blue ghost.

It’s two weeks later when, just like ghosts, Aleks shows up at his doorstep. Knocks and everything, which is very unlike Aleks, but James takes it in stride. The blond still stretches out on his couch and when James sits on the arm only does he move his legs, slightly, and James takes the bit of cushion exposed for him.

“Where’ve you been, man? I’ve been texting you.”

“Thinking,” Aleks is looking anywhere but at him, “this… thing we did. You said it showed true love, right?”

“Yeah? Why does it matter? Is something in the news?” James immediately finds panic setting in, tries to reach for his remote, but Aleks grabs his wrist instead. The cold metal of a ring cuts into his mind, just for a second, and James stops, frozen in time. He turns to look at Aleks, slowly, feeling that bogged down way like he did in alternate Colorado shit-town.

“Did you have a string?”

James never wanted to hear that question. “Why?”

“Be fucking straight with me, dude. Did you?”

“Yes,” James lowers his gaze, hand dropping from Aleks’ touch, “why?”

“Because I did too.”

Oh. This is probably the awkward part, James thinks. “Okay. Are you asking me to find your soulmate, dude?”

“You’re sitting right there, dumbass,” Aleks is now red in the face, clearly pissed and embarrassed for having to spell out something James knew he knew from the get-go, “are you being an asshole or just that stupid?”

“I’m being an asshole,” James agrees softly, turning to face Aleks better as his brain starts to short-circuit, “you mean it?”

“Where did yours go?”

“I only saw it once,” James adjusts his beanie, feeling all sorts of sweaty and anxious, “you’re telling me you saw yours the whole time?”

“Every fucking time you sucked me into that bizzare hell-hole. Always yours.”

“Oh,” James says, mouth dry, “oh.”

“You’re a bastard,” Aleks grunts and closes the distance between them, both hands reaching out to grab James’ cheeks. Not the cutest or most put together kiss James has ever had, but he feels it, the anxiety rolling off of Aleks to be replaced with genuine relief as James kisses back, a hand reaching up to just gently touch Aleks’ neck, feel the bob in his throat, and his fingers climb to sit at the base of his skull, just touching the soft hair starting to grow back in from his last buzz.

Aleks pulls away first, chest heaving with breaths, and James has to laugh. What a fucking idiot.

“You okay, Sasha?” James teases the nickname and Aleks just looks more red in the face, but he’s laughing, pressing the heel of his palm into his temple.

“... Better, now.”

“Yeah, me too.”

It’s kind of cliche, getting the girl at the end, but James couldn’t be any happier with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the trainwreck comes to an end, finally

**Author's Note:**

> i cant believe i made a real fic ya'll. please enjoy or i'll cry. i will cry regardless but, you know. also please do me this one solid and picture:
> 
> a) chubbier james (like creatures/early cow chop)  
> b) chubby aleks w his frosted tips
> 
> thank you and goodnight


End file.
